This invention relates to magnetic disk drives, and more particularly, to a loading mechanism for moving a motor into engagement with a magnetic disk which is rotated by the motor.
Recently, magnetic disk drives which write and read digital data from flexible magnetic disks have been extensively used. These are frequently referred to as "floppy" disks and "floppy disk drives." These drives have been extensively used for small, so-called microcomputer systems, for word processing applications, and the like.
In order to rotate the flexible magnetic disk in read/write relationship with a magnetic recording head, a rotatable spindle must engage the center of the disk and disengage the disk when the operation has been completed. Floppy disk drives typically force and hold the disk center onto a fixed rotatable spindle by use of a clamp which comes from the back side of the disk. Since the actual drive spindle is fixed from translating, the critical dimensions from the hub center and hub height with respect to the recording head are fixed. However, this approach requires that the disk cartridge have an opening through which the clamp contacts and moves the media. The typical floppy disk cartridge exposes certain areas of the disk recording surface to dust contamination, liquid spillage, fingerprints, and scratching.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,748--Bauck et al shows a magnetic disk drive for reading and writing data from a magnetic disk in a rigid cartridge. The disk is rotated against a Bernoulli plate which gives the disk stability and the characteristics of a much larger, rigid media, drive. The magnetic disk is engaged by a drive motor and a recording head which extend through a common opening in the rigid disk cartridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,083, Bauck et al and Ser. No. 440,335, filed Nov. 9, 1982, commonly assigned, show a disk drive in which the motor is mounted on a yoke which is rotatable about a pivot in the disk drive. A bezel member mounted on the end of the yoke substantially closes the opening through which the magnetic disk cartridge is inserted into the drive. When the bezel member is moved by the operator out of this opening, in order to insert a cartridge, the motor is moved out of the position in which it will engage the magnetic disk.
These disk drives are packaged in racks or cabinets where space is at a premium. It is particularly desirable to reduce the height of the disk drive so that more drives can be located in the same available vertical space.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a disk drive with a substantially reduced height, for example, one half the height of that required in the aforementioned Bauck et al patents.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a motor loading mechanism for a disk drive which is reliable and which provides error-free operation by the user.